Job Description
Title: Controls Engineer
Location: Rockford, IL
Hire Type: Direct Hire
Compensation: $110,000 to $130,000 based on experience
Benefits: Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance, 401k, Paid Time Off
About the Role:
Seeking an experienced Controls Engineer to design, program, and commission custom automated equipment for a variety of industrial customers. This is an excellent opportunity for a hands-on engineer who enjoys taking projects from electrical design and programming through installation, startup, and customer acceptance. The ideal candidate has strong Allen Bradley/Rockwell controls experience, along with a solid understanding of servo motion, vision systems, electrical troubleshooting, and automated machinery.
What You'll Do:
- Design electrical and control systems for custom automation equipment.
- Develop and program Allen Bradley PLCs, HMIs, and servo motion systems using Rockwell Automation software.
- Create, modify, and maintain electrical schematics, control documentation, and system drawings.
- Troubleshoot electrical, controls, and automation issues during development and production.
- Commission automated equipment at customer facilities and support equipment startup.
- Work closely with electrical, mechanical, and engineering teams to deliver complete automation solutions.
- Support and troubleshoot servo motion and machine vision systems.
- Mentor junior controls engineers and contribute to the development of engineering best practices.
- Participate in continuous improvement initiatives to improve machine performance, reliability, and efficiency.
- Travel to customer sites for installation, commissioning, and startup activities — up to 25%.
What We're Looking For:
- 5+ years of Controls Engineering experience, preferably within custom automation, machine building, or industrial manufacturing.
- Strong experience with Allen Bradley PLCs and Rockwell Automation software.
- Experience programming and troubleshooting PLCs, HMIs, and servo motion systems.
- Experience with machine vision systems.
- Strong electrical troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to read and develop electrical schematics.
- Comfortable working hands-on with automated equipment during startup and commissioning.
- Strong communication and teamwork skills.
- Willingness to travel up to 25% for customer commissioning and startup.
Why Join?
- Work on custom automation projects from concept through commissioning.
- Gain exposure to a variety of advanced automation technologies.
- Take ownership of challenging controls projects and see your work come to life.
- Opportunity to mentor others and grow into a technical leadership role.
- Collaborative engineering environment with a strong focus on innovation and continuous improvement.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.
Numbers & Facts
| Location | Rockford, IL |
| Industry | Staffing/Employment Agencies |
| Salary | $110,000–$130,000 Per Year |
| Company Size | 500 to 999 employees |
| Year Founded | 1969 |
| Website | http://www.sterling-engineering.com |
About Company
Sterling Engineering has been a trusted partner for engineering, project management, and staffing solutions for over five decades. We provide exceptional engineering/technical recruitment and engineering project services to clients nationwide:
- Engineering & Technical Recruitment - With our focus on engineering, technical, and IT, Sterling has the in-depth knowledge, industry expertise, and robust employee pipeline it takes to rapidly find talent for even the most difficult to fill positions. Sterling’s extensive recruitment methodology allows us to engage the most talented employees in the marketplace. We offer exciting work and career-building opportunities for our candidates, along with expert support at every step of the process.
- Engineering Project Services – Our experienced, multi-disciplined team of project managers, engineers, and designers, led by licensed Professional Engineers (PE), provide project management, engineering, design, and Commissioning, Qualification, and Validation (CQV) to manufacturing, OEM, and R&D customers. We work on complex, highly technical projects across a number of industry sectors, and our ability to scale and seamlessly integrate at multiple levels of your organization is what differentiates us.
Sterling offers a unique combination of engineering solutions and Best of Staffing level service to help our clients and talent achieve their goals.
Skills
- Allen-Bradleyunmatched
- Automationunmatched
- Best Practicesunmatched
- Commissioningunmatched
- Communication Skillsunmatched
- Continuous Improvementunmatched
- Control Engineeringunmatched
- Control Systemsunmatched
- Document Managementunmatched
- Electrical Designunmatched
- Electricityunmatched
- Engineeringunmatched
- Home Automationunmatched
- Identify Issuesunmatched
- Maintenance - Electricalunmatched
- Manufacturingunmatched
- Mechanical Engineeringunmatched
- Mentoringunmatched
- Performance Managementunmatched
- Problem Solving Skillsunmatched
- Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)unmatched
- Project Controlunmatched
- Project Designunmatched
- Rockwell Automationunmatched
- Schematicsunmatched
- Servomechanismunmatched
- Startupunmatched
- System Start-Upunmatched
- Team Playerunmatched
- Technical Leadershipunmatched
- Willing to Travelunmatched
Level up your application
Professional resume templates
Browse dozens of recruiter approved resume templates, layouts and formats. Choose your favorite and make it your own in minutes.
Free resume templatesFree resume builder
Improve your existing resume or start from scratch and create a standout, ATS-friendly resume. Add job-specific content, download and apply.
Free resume builder